THE PSEUDO-SCIENCE AND MYTHICAL AESTHETICS OF ANGELA SU

Angela Su was brought to Helsinki through her participation in the exhibition So long, thanks again for the fish, a group show of five Hong Kong artists held in Levyhalli, Suomenlinna. The exhibition, curated by Yeewan Koon, is a part of Helsinki Biennial Inspired programme, and it features two new commissioned works by Angela.

Itchy twitchy bitchy glitch, hair embroidery, computer monitors, perspex, 2021. Photographer: Sheung Yiu.

The first work Itchy twitchy bitchy glitch shows the interplay between a large hair embroidery featuring an insect, two code poems on both sides of a large plexiglass, and keywords from the poems on computer monitors. The keywords on the computer monitors, generated by an actual computer program, can be seen through both the embroidery and the plexiglass. In this installation, the embroidered insect can be seen as an actual, real insect, or interpreted as a bug in a computer program, a glitch in the system. “Small things can trigger monumental changes in society,” Angela explains, as illustrated by the huge size of the embroidery itself.

The second work in the exhibition is a video work titled Lacrima that tells the story of the clairvoyant/artist/scientist Nina Palladino and the fictional island of Lacrima, where mysterious things take place in a foggy landscape.

Lacrima, single channel video, 19min 48sec, 2021. Photographer: Sheung Yiu.

Both pieces are great examples of how Angela often works, combining facts with fiction, and science with art. Angela describes her work as “pseudo-science,” and it demonstrates her background in biochemistry as well as her interests in technology, the body, scientific drawings and sci-fi films.

Combining her participation in the “So long, thanks again for the fish” exhibition with a residency period at HIAP’s Suomenlinna studios, Angela will stay in Helsinki until August 2021. During that time, she intends to relax after a very hectic spring, but as she has been selected to represent Hong Kong at the Venice Biennale 2022, she will also be busy researching and planning for new works. In Suomenlinna, Angela is fascinated by the shipyard, and hybrids of machines and humans have been triggering her imagination.

Installation view of Blasons anatomiques du corps féminin, French knot and Straight stitch. Photographer: Sheung Yiu.

Photos provided by the artist.

More:

Join a panel discussion between the artists of the exhibition “So long, and thanks again for the fish” and curator Yeewan Koon on Tuesday, 29 June here.

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